Nodal order parameter in electron-doped Pr(2-x)CexCuO(4-delta) superconducting films

The London penetration depth, lambda(ab)(T), is reported for thin films of the electron-doped superconductor Pr(2-x)Ce(x)CuO(4-delta) with varying Ce concentration, x=0.13, 0.15, and 0.17. Measurements down to 0.35 K were carried out using a tunnel-diode oscillator with excitation fields applied both perpendicular and parallel to the conducting planes. Films at all three doping levels exhibited power law behavior indicative of d-wave pairing with impurity scattering. These results are fully consistent with previous measurements on single crystals.     

Evidence for a transition in the pairing symmetry of the electron-doped cuprates La(2-x)Ce(x)CuO(4-y) and Pr(2-x)Ce(x)CuO(4-y)

We present measurements of the magnetic penetration depth, lambda(-2)(T), in Pr(2-x)Ce(x)CuO(4-y) and La(2-x)Ce(x)CuO(4-y) films at three Ce doping levels, x, near optimal. Optimal and overdoped films are qualitatively and quantitatively different from underdoped films. For example, lambda(-2)(0) decreases rapidly with underdoping but is roughly constant above optimal doping. Also, lambda(-2)(T) at low T is exponential at optimal and overdoping but is quadratic at underdoping. In light of other studies that suggest both d- and s-wave pairing symmetry in nominal optimally doped samples, our results are evidence for a transition from d- to s-wave pairing near optimal doping.     

Correlation between the Hall coefficient,penetration depth,transition temperature,gap anisotropy and hole concentration in layered high-temperature superconductors

We explore the correlation between the Hall coefficient, penetration depth, transition temperature, gap anisotropy and hole concentration in a tight binding model for layered high-temperature superconductors. By adopting the BCS strategy, nearest neighbor intralayer singlet and extendeds-wave pairing cut off at the hole Fermi energy, remarkable agreement with generic experimental facts is obtained. Thus, a cylindrical hole Fermi surface and intralayer extendeds-wave singlet pairing appear to be generic features of the cuprate semiconductors. For high doping levels, however, intralayerd-wave singlet pairing appears to be the stable phase.     

Nodal d + id pairing and topological phases on the triangular lattice of Na(x)CoO(2).yH(2)O: evidence for an unconventional superconducting state

We show that finite angular momentum pairing chiral superconductors on the triangular lattice have point zeroes in the complex gap function. A topological quantum phase transition takes place through a nodal superconducting state at a specific carrier density x(c) where the normal state Fermi surface crosses the isolated zeros. For spin-singlet pairing, we show that the second-nearest-neighbor (d+id)-wave pairing can be the dominant pairing channel. The gapless critical state at x (c) approximately 0.25 has six Dirac points and is topologically nontrivial with a T3 spin relaxation rate below T(c). This picture provides a possible explanation for the unconventional superconducting state of Na(x)Co O(2). yH(2)O. Analyzing a pairing model with strong correlation using the Gutzwiller projection and symmetry arguments, we study these topological phases and phase transitions as a function of Na doping.     

Fermi surface of NaxCoO2

Doping evolution of the Fermi surface topology of Na(x)CoO(2) is studied systematically. Both local density approximation (LDA) and local spin density approximation (LSDA) predict a large Fermi surface as well as small hole pockets for doping levels x approximately 0.5. In contrast, the hole pockets are completely absent for all doping levels within LSDA+U. More importantly, we find no violation of Luttinger's rule in this system. The measured Fermi surface of Na(0.7)CoO(2) can be explained by its half-metallic behavior and agrees with our LSDA+U calculations.     

Effect of Fermi surface nesting on resonant spin excitations in Ba(1-x)K(x)Fe2As2

We report inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the resonant spin excitations in Ba(1-x)K(x)Fe(2)As(2) over a broad range of electron band filling. The fall in the superconducting transition temperature with hole doping coincides with the magnetic excitations splitting into two incommensurate peaks because of the growing mismatch in the hole and electron Fermi surface volumes, as confirmed by a tight-binding model with s(±)-symmetry pairing. The reduction in Fermi surface nesting is accompanied by a collapse of the resonance binding energy and its spectral weight, caused by the weakening of electron-electron correlations.     

Metallic nonsuperconducting phase and D-wave superconductivity in Zn-substituted La1.85Sr0.15CuO4

Measurements of the resistivity, magnetoresistance, and penetration depth were made on films of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4, with up to 12 at. % of Zn substituted for the Cu. The results show that the quadratic temperature dependence of the inverse square of the penetration depth, indicative of d-wave superconductivity, is not affected by doping. The suppression of superconductivity leads to a metallic nonsuperconducting phase, as expected for a pairing mechanism related to spin fluctuations. The metal-insulator transition occurs in the vicinity of k(F)l approximately 1, and appears to be disorder driven, with the carrier concentration unaffected by doping.     

Near doping-independent pocket area from an antinodal Fermi surface instability in underdoped high temperature superconductors

Fermi surface models applied to the underdoped cuprates predict the small pocket area to be strongly dependent on doping whereas quantum oscillations in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6+x) find precisely the opposite to be true--seemingly at odds with the Luttinger volume. We show that such behavior can be explained by an incommensurate antinodal Fermi surface nesting-type instability--further explaining the doping-dependent superstructures seen in cuprates using scanning tunneling microscopy. We develop a Fermi surface reconstruction scheme involving orthogonal density waves in two dimensions and show that their incommensurate behavior requires momentum-dependent coupling. A cooperative modulation of the charge and bond strength is therefore suggested.     

Tunneling into the normal state of Pr2-xCexCuO4

The temperature dependence of the tunneling conductance was measured for various doping levels of Pr(2-x)CexCuO4 using planar junctions. A normal state gap is seen at all doping levels studied, x=0.11 to x=0.19. We find it to vanish above a certain temperature T*. T* is greater than T(c) for the underdoped region and it follows T(c) on the overdoped side. This behavior suggests finite pairing amplitude above T(c) on the underdoped side.     

Universal intrinsic doping behavior of in-plane dc conductivity for hole-doped high-temperature cuprate superconductors

Understanding the normal state transport properties in hole-doped high-temperature cuprate superconductors (HTCSs) is a challenging task which has been widely believed to be one of the key steps toward revealing the pairing mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. Here, we present a true intrinsic and universal doping dependence of in-plane dc conductivity for all underdoped HTCSs. The doping dependence of in-plane dc conductivity normalized to that at optimal doping can be represented by a simple exponential formula. The doping behavior of the square of the nodal Fermi velocity derived by the high-resolution laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in the superconducting state follows reasonably well the universal intrinsic doping behavior. Our findings suggest a commonality of the low-energy quasiparticles both in the normal and superconducting states that place a true universal and stringent constraint on the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity for HTCSs.     

Plane-chain coupling in YBa2Cu3O7: temperature dependence of the penetration depth

We have studied the penetration depth for a model of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ involving pairing, both in the CuO₂ planes and in the CuO chains. In this model pairing in the planes is due to an attractive interaction, while Coulomb repulsion induces in the chains an order parameter with opposite sign. Due to the anti-crossing produced by hybridization between planes and chains, one obtains a d-wave like order parameter which changes sign on a single sheet of the Fermi surface and has nodes in the gap. We find that our model accounts quite well for the anisotropy of the penetration depth and for the absolute values. We reproduce fairly well the whole temperature dependence for both the a- and the b-directions, including the linear dependence at low temperature. We use a set of parameters which are all quite reasonable physically. Our results for the c-direction are also satisfactory, although the situation is less clear both experimentally and theoretically.     

Quasiparticle scattering induced by charge doping of iron-pnictide superconductors probed by collective vortex pinning

Charge doping of iron-pnictide superconductors leads to collective pinning of flux vortices, whereas isovalent doping does not. Moreover, flux pinning in the charge-doped compounds is consistently described by the mean-free path fluctuations introduced by the dopant atoms, allowing for the extraction of the elastic quasiparticle scattering rate. The absence of scattering by dopant atoms in isovalently doped BaFe2(As(1-x)P(x))(2) is consistent with the observation of a linear temperature dependence of the low-temperature penetration depth in this material.     

Fermi surface evolution and Luttinger theorem in Na(x)CoO2: a systematic photoemission study

We report a systematic angle-resolved photoemission study on Na(x)CoO2 for a wide range of Na concentrations (0.3 < or = x < or = 0.72). In all the metallic samples at different x, we observed (i) only a single holelike Fermi surface centered around gamma and (ii) its area changes with x according to the Luttinger theorem. We also observed a surface state that exhibits a larger Fermi surface area. The e'(g) band and the associated small Fermi surface pockets near the K points predicted by band calculations are found to sink below the Fermi energy in a manner almost independent of the doping and temperature.     

Metallic behavior of lightly doped La2-xSrxCuO4 with a Fermi surface forming an arc

Lightly doped La2-xSrxCuO4 in the so-called "insulating" spin-glass phase has been studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We have observed that a "quasiparticle" (QP) peak crosses the Fermi level in the node direction of the d-wave superconducting gap, forming an "arc" of Fermi surface, which explains the metallic behavior at high temperatures of the lightly doped materials. The QP spectral weight of the arc smoothly increases with hole doping, which we attribute to the n approximately x behavior of the carrier number in the underdoped and lightly doped regions.     

μSR and highT c superconductivity

Some implications of μSR experiments on high temperature superconductors are discussed. The possible relationship between the observation of spin freezing and the tendency of mobile holes to phase separate is considered. Measurements of the magnetic penetration depth as a function of doping are shown to imply that a non-retarded, or high energy scale pairing interaction is responsible for high temperature superconductivity. The depression of the transition temperature at high doping is associated with a crossover away from the regime in which a charge-transfer gap is relevant.     

Survival of the d-wave superconducting state near the edge of antiferromagnetism in the cuprate phase diagram

In the cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3O6+x, hole doping in the CuO2 layers is controlled by both oxygen content and the degree of oxygen ordering. At the composition YBa2Cu3O6.35, the ordering can occur at room temperature, thereby tuning the hole doping so that the superconducting critical temperature gradually rises from 0 to 20 K. Here we exploit this to study the c-axis penetration depth as a function of temperature and doping. The temperature dependence shows the d-wave superconductor surviving to very low doping, with no sign of another ordered phase interfering with the nodal quasiparticles. The only apparent doping dependence is a smooth decline of superfluid density as T(c) decreases.     

Doping-dependent evolution of low-energy excitations and quantum phase transitions within an effective model for high-T<Subscript>c</Subscript> copper oxides

In this paper a mean-field theory for the spin-liquid paramagnetic non-superconducting phase of the p- and n-type high-T_c cuprates is developed. This theory applied to the effective t-t'-t′′-J^* model with the ab initio calculated parameters and with the three-site correlated hoppings. The static spin-spin and kinematic correlation functions beyond Hubbard-I approximation are calculated self-consistently. The evolution of the Fermi surface and band dispersion is obtained for the wide range of doping concentrations x. For p-type systems the three different types of behavior are found and the transitions between these types are accompanied by the changes in the Fermi surface topology. Thus a quantum phase transitions take place at x = 0.15 and at x = 0.23.Due to the different Fermi surface topology we found for n-type cuprates only one quantum critical concentration, x = 0.2. The calculated doping dependence of the nodal Fermi velocity and the effective mass are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

S-wave spin-triplet order in superconductors without inversion symmetry: Li2Pd3B and Li2Pt3B

We investigate the order parameter of noncentrosymmetric superconductors Li2Pd3B and Li2Pt3B via the behavior of the penetration depth lambda(T). The low-temperature penetration depth shows BCS-like behavior in Li2Pd3B, while in Li2Pt3B it follows a linear temperature dependence. We propose that broken inversion symmetry and the accompanying antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling, which admix spin-singlet and spin-triplet pairing, are responsible for this behavior. The triplet contribution is weak in Li2Pd3B, leading to a wholly open but anisotropic gap. The significantly larger spin-orbit coupling in Li2Pt3B allows the spin-triplet component to be larger in Li2Pt3B, producing line nodes in the energy gap as evidenced by the linear temperature dependence of lambda(T). The experimental data are in quantitative agreement with theory.     

Correlations and confinement of excitations in an asymmetric Hubbard ladder

Correlation functions and low-energy excitations are investigated in the asymmetric two-leg ladder consisting of a Hubbard chain and a noninteracting tight-binding (Fermi) chain using the density matrix renormalization group method. The behavior of charge, spin and pairing correlations is discussed for the four phases found at half filling, namely, Luttinger liquid, Kondo-Mott insulator, spin-gapped Mott insulator and correlated band insulator. Quasi-long-range antiferromagnetic spin correlations are found in the Hubbard leg in the Luttinger liquid phase only. Pair-density-wave correlations are studied to understand the structure of bound pairs found in the Fermi leg of the spin-gapped Mott phase at half filling and at light doping but we find no enhanced pairing correlations. Low-energy excitations cause variations of spin and charge densities on the two legs that demonstrate the confinement of the lowest charge excitations on the Fermi leg while the lowest spin excitations are localized on the Hubbard leg in the three insulating phases. The velocities of charge, spin, and single-particle excitations are investigated to clarify the confinement of elementary excitations in the Luttinger liquid phase. The observed spatial separation of elementary spin and charge excitations could facilitate the coexistence of different (quasi-)long-range orders in higher-dimensional extensions of the asymmetric Hubbard ladder.